A Niner Watches Babylon 5 (NO spoilers, please)

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by TheGodBen, Jan 24, 2010.

  1. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    I can understand why he feels that way, but the scene of a man calmly talking another man down from committing murder felt overly-familiar and very Star Trekesque. Really, it's like almost any show where that sort of situation is presented, which is why I wish it wasn't presented at all.

    Yeah, I understand. I don't want to be responsible for starting a war. :(

    Or do I? :devil:

    I guess not. :(

    That was exactly my point. Mysterion was claiming JMS putting his scripts online would be like me working for free, and I was pointing out that the situation was entirely different.

    In fairness to me, I also referred to myself as a cunt.

    I lost my job last year. Dell dropped the contract with the company I was working for because they felt that premium software support for the UK is best provided by people who speak English as a second language. I was given two options, 1) work for 3 months as normal or 2) work for two months and receive that final month's pay as a lump sum. I chose option 2, because I foolishly thought that I would find work within the two months I was given. Sadly for me, the economy imploded and there was no work for a guy with only one year's experience out of college. After six months of not receiving money I went on welfare. Six months after that the economy wasn't improving, so the only way I was going to find work was to up-skill. So now I'm back in college doing a masters degree, which I hate. Of course, I couldn't stay on welfare and go to college, so all I'm receiving now is a measly €2,100 grant for the whole year. I'm living with my parents at the age of 23 because I can't afford to do otherwise. And in the midst of all this my ingrown toe-nail has recurred for the third time, and since I lost my health insurance when I lost my job I am forced to rely upon the state system, which means that I have to pay for my own medication (Flucloxacillin) and I can expect to wait six-nine months before a doctor finds the fifteen minutes he needs to cut the bloody nail out. Until that time wearing shoes can be an agony.

    Lesson: Life sucks. For pretty much everyone. Even the people that claim to be happy now, eventually their life will go back to complete suckiness once again. A sucky life is like entropy, the universe seems to move towards it unstoppably.

    J. Michael Straczynski is a successful and award-winning television and movie writer, and I believe he writes novels and something called "comic books" as well. While he's probably not a super-duper millionaire like Carlos Slim Helú, I would imagine that the state of his life is considerably better than mine. Do I feel sympathy for all the struggling writers trying to get a foot on the ladder and failing? Of course, writing is a very difficult profession to be successful in. Do I feel any sympathy for JMS?

    *looks down at toe*

    No, I can't say that I do.

    Things I was right about: 1,892,043

    Sorry, let me explain: You don't know me, but I of course know you quite well due to your status on this board, and I didn't fail to notice that you had posted in this thread. After saying what I did in my last post I said to myself that you would probably react by announcing that you were leaving the thread. I even had a witty retort lined up: "Oh no! The skin on my nose has fallen off!"

    I wish I could say that I'm sorry about you deciding not to read, but I'm not, I'm basking in the warm feeling of being proven right yet again.

    To anybody else that is on Dennis' side and has decided not to read this thread due to my position on JMS and his scripts, to you I will say that I am sorry. I wish that you could understand my position on this issue but I understand if you feel that you do not wish to partake in further discussions on this show. I wish you well, and if you want an autographed picture of me to put on your dartboard then send me a PM and I'll get right on it.


    To those that are sticking around, that's the last thing I plan to say on this script issue, it has derailed the thread enough.
     
  2. Neroon

    Neroon Mod of Balance Moderator

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    So since we are leaving the divergent topic far behind and returning to the reviews of the episodes ... which one is next, or did you establish in which order you are watching them? It doesn't really matter all that much. The variations are really only minor.

    :angel:
     
  3. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    As Harvey said, I'll happily look up anything you're not sure of. In addition to the script books, I've also got the shooting drafts to all of the episodes (purchased from cast & crew members). For the bonus volume, I created an inventory of differences between the scripts and the episodes so if folks are interested, I may chime in once in a while to note deleted scenes or ways scenes were changed.

    Jan
     
  4. Canadave

    Canadave Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    I'm sure this has been said before, but I'm constantly amazed at the sheer volume of B5 information you always seem to have on-hand. Kudos.

    Oh, and since the script-payment-wars seem to have died down, I'll de-cloak and say hi. I've always missed your threads as they were in progress TGB, so I'm glad I caught this one near the beginning. :thumbsup:
     
  5. Jimmy Bob

    Jimmy Bob Commander Red Shirt

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    :eek: I find myself suddenly missing the old provincial flavour of the Trek sub-forums. Ben hasn't even started reviewing yet and already such chaos. :confused: Such a wild place.

    Anyway, good luck TGB. :bolian: You're in the big city now.
     
  6. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Pfft. This ain't the big city. Let's see him do one of these review threads in TNZ. :lol:
     
  7. JoeD80

    JoeD80 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    The minute you pull out the "he is richer than others so he shouldn't have the same rights" is the minute you lose the argument. You either support writers' rights or you don't. It's a bullshit argument to start saying "oh he's got so much money though so he should really share stuff for free and if he decides to take what is legally his he's a [meanie]." Apparently your position is writers should have rights until they become successful but then they should share themselves with the world for free.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2010
  8. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Anyway, back to Babylon 5...
     
  9. Gotham Central

    Gotham Central Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    I think that some folks have taken this further than it needs to go. TGB has already done his due dilligence by JMS by paying for the DVDs he's watching (or atleast someone has). No one is arguing that JMS does not deserve compensation for his work. Fans have already done so by consuming the B5 product and its ancillary materials. TGB's point is that there is a point in which the creators are just being pig headed. The scripts are simply being used as reference by fans that want to fairly represent the original work. We're not talking about new material. Hell, from a purely business perspective his position is foolish since fan materials can often entice others to check out the original work. Its just shortsighted to try to squeeze the very people that already consume and admire his work. To be fair, JMS is HARDLY the only writer to do this.

    Now let TGB continue to stroke his ego by reviewing B5 :)
     
  10. Gotham Central

    Gotham Central Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    B5 is deceptive. While this episode is wrapped up nicely, the one thing to know is that nothing in this epsiode is really settled. In fact, this episode is deceptively tidy. Its far more important than one gets from an initial viewing.
     
  11. JoeD80

    JoeD80 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    OK, back on topic:

    Yep, it's connected to a lot of events in future episodes. I caught a lot more of it on my 2nd viewing of the series. Season one is a good introduction with hints at things going on and events come to the forefront fairly quickly. I wouldn't really say the first episode was like Star Trek; perhaps it felt like the "reset button" mentality that Trek got caught in; but events *will* have consequences and the reset button doesn't really happen in B5 so need to worry there.
     
  12. notwendium

    notwendium Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Season one has some stinkers. Some really big stinkers. To be fair, "Infection" was the first episode shot and it shows.
    For me, Season one is redeemed by "Born to the Purple" (a Londo episode that has series-spanning consequences).
    Mind War (Bester's introduction, must-see even if the A story is a 1-shot)
    "Parliament of Dreams" (that really gets the ball rolling)
    Babylon Squared (a familiar-to-trek SF trope-heavy episode that is more then it seems)
    Voice In The Wilderness (watch these back to back with B^2)
    Chrysalis... redeems S1 all on its own.

    Honorable mention to Eyes (a pre-DS9 Jeff Combs)
     
  13. Reverend

    Reverend Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    ^ Let's wait until he's gotten to those episodes before we start to discuss them, yes?
     
  14. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Yeah, I've got a lot, due in large part to having become a fan while the show was still on the air. It's nice that a number of fans here also have the script books now, too.

    I've never known B5 fans to be anything but helpful to the new fans. Probably because we enjoy the vicarious experience of seeing the show for the first time again through threads like this. ;)

    Jan
     
  15. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll be okay without it. And sorry if I was rude to you yesterday, I was in a particularly bad mood for a variety of reasons, I hope you weren't too offended.


    Soul Hunter (½)

    Shut up.

    I said "Shut up".

    Shut up!

    Shut up!! :mad:

    How can someone with such an awesome voice be so dull? :(

    Thank the gods. :beer:

    Arrrrgh! Stop! :brickwall:

    Shut up shut up shut up!!!!! :censored:

    I didn't see any more of the episode from this point on because a shoe somehow shot across the room and broke my TV.

    I don't believe in souls, but there are many things in science fiction which I'm willing to accept if the characters are interesting enough, that's why I'm willing to forgive the finale of BSG. But I find the Soul Hunter in this episode to be so irritating that I can't buy into the concept, he talks so slowly about such boring things that every minute he's on screen feels like an irritating eternity. He's like a lonely old man telling stories that nobody is interested in.

    Once again, the story is standard fare, there's an alien who turns out to be evil, he decides to kill off a main cast member but the heroic captain figure swoops in the save the day. I'm still not that interested in Delenn as a character, so putting her in peril wasn't successful in keeping me interested in the plot. And the worst thing of all about this episode is that there was no Londo or G'Kar, that's like watching an episode of Frasier where Niles doesn't turn up.

    The episode tells us that Delenn is a member of the Grey Council, which I would be far more intrigued by if I knew what the hell that was. When Sinclair discovers this fact he seems mildly shocked, but instead of trying to figure out this mystery he says something like "I have plenty of time to figure that out later" which reeks of the character knowing that he shouldn't investigate further because he knows it will come up again in some episode down the line. It would be like watching an episode of Scooby Doo where the gang learn of a haunted house, so instead they spend the night at a luxury hotel.

    Commander Greyshirt: 3


    I've been told that Martin Sheen shows up as a Soul Hunter at some point, is that true? Because that was one of the ways my brother tried to sell me on the show since he knew I was a big West Wing fan, but the idea of him as a Soul Hunter makes me worry.
     
    Seven of Five likes this.
  16. Booji

    Booji Commodore Premium Member

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    yup, Martin Sheen does pop up as a Soul Hunter, but not until after the finale in a tv flick.
     
  17. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Also 'cause we never got partitioned like Trek fans did - "You like B5 more than Crusade? Are you nuts?" "What? you think Legend of the Rangers' third season was better than B5: Lost Tales second season, you shiftless nerf-herder?!"

    Maybe if the spinoffs had succeeded we'd be there, but maybe we're lucky they didn't.
     
  18. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Soul Hunter: I always thought of that guy as "Evil Popeye."
     
  19. Sykonee

    Sykonee Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Honestly, Sheppard's "crazy old-man" turn as a Soul Hunter was more memorable than Sheen's. At least Sheppard was... creepy.
     
  20. Jan

    Jan Commodore Commodore

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    Re: A Niner Watches Babylon 5

    Thanks for the apology, it's appreciated.

    I may still post some deleted or changed scenes from time to time just because I think they're interesting. And in a few cases, the shaved bits of dialogue would have had a real effect if they'd been left in.

    Jan